Shortstop is incredibly deep, with stars and five-tool contributors all over the big leagues and many more prospects on the way. In re-draft leagues, six shortstops are usually drafted within the first 30 picks, which is one less than the other four infield positions combined. They produce more value on a per-fantasy-starting-position than any other position (unless you break the outfield spots and starting pitch spots down to individual spots, then they might have the second or third most value), the two best prospects in all of baseball play the position and more shortstop are drafted within the first 100 picks than second and third basemen combined (12 vs 9).

Bobby Witt Jr., Elly De La Cruz, Gunnar Henderson and Francisco Lindor all have 30/30 upside, some with more homers, some with more stolen bases; can score 100 runs with ease, will drive in more base runners than your typical 1/2 hitters and it is virtually impossible to nab two of them for your fantasy team unless you get the last pick of the first round and you can grab Henderson and Lindor with back-to-back picks. Behind them you have Zach Neto, the first infielder in the history of the Angels to have a 20/20 season, CJ Abrams, who has hit 18 or more home runs and stolen 31-plus bases in each of the last three seasons, then the two stud prospects, 1A Kevin McGonigle and 1B Konnor Griffin, both five tool talents who scream fantasy superstar and both of whom should spend most, if not all, of the 2026 season with their big league squads, followed by breakout fantasy darling Geraldo Perdomo, who put together the most out-of-nowhere 7.1 WAR season we had last season, and then the 32-year-old speedster, Trea Turner, who continued to be an elite table-setter at the top of a great Phillies lineup, rounds out the top 10. And if that’s not enough, Corey Seager, Mookie Betts, four more top-10 to 12 prospects and a 30 homer hitter can be found in the next 10.

Shortstop is deep as it has ever been, with high end talent throughout the position, both in the big leagues and in the minor leagues, leaving fantasy managers no excuse to not receive plenty of production from the position.

Stats are from 2025; Age is the player’s age on opening

Witt is the complete shortstop package. Plus-power, plus-speed, elite hit tool, great eye at the plate, elite glove. He has quite possibly the safest floor of anyone at the position and we still don’t really know how high his ceiling goes. Could he hit 45 home runs? Sure. Steal 50 bases? I believe it. Bat .350? Why not? He has had double-digit barrel rates and a hard hit rate of 45% or higher the last three seasons, posts elite average exit velocities (93.3 MPH career high last year), hits plenty of fly balls and makes tons of contact. The Royals lineup is much improved from his first year in the big leagues, with Maikel Garcia taking a step forward, Vinnie Pasquantino breaking out in 2025 and the addition of Carter Jensen behind the plate and at DH, sharing time with Salvador Perez (who is an ageless power hitter apparently). Plus Jac Caglianone should spend the entire year in the big leagues, they traded for Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas signed a prove-it contract, so their outfield offense should improve on being the worst overall in the league (their outfielders combined for a 70 wRC+; the Guardians were second worst at 79). Witt has already had three “career years”, yet we could see a new level reached in 2026.

De La Cruz (EDLC from here on) had a pretty fantastic season from a statistical standpoint – ranks among shortstops with 500 or more plate appearances: 2nd in runs, 7th in RBI, 2nd in stolen bases, 7th in home runs, 12th in batting average, 11th in wRC+. He had the lowest strikeout rate of his career, maintained above average statcast data, maintained his gains in chase rate while raising his contact rate back over 70% and posted the best average of his career. But he also played through a partially torn quad that he suffered in July, which caused his stats to take a serious dive. Look at his stats through the end of June: 366 plate appearances, 67 runs, 18 home runs, 57 RBI, 22 stolen bases, .279 batting average, 130 wRC+; now, look at his stats from July 1 through the end of the year: 333 PA, 35 R, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 15 SB, .248 BA, 84 wRC+. He went 50 days in between home runs (July 31 to Aug 20), his barrel rate dropped from 14.9% to 5.1%, hard hit from 46.4% to 41.6% and contact from 73.2% to 67.8%. It was like going from Bobby Witt Jr. the first three months and Anthony Volpe the last three. Who knows where his season ends up if he didn’t suffer the injury, but he is expected to be fully healthy for the start of the season and he will surely look to bounce back from a terrible second half of the season. A 30 homer, 50 stole base season with 200-plus runs-plus-RBI would go a long ways towards pushing Witt for the top fantasy shortstop spot.

Speaking of shortstop injuries, Henderson started the season on the injured list in 2025, suffering a mild right intercostal strain during spring training, causing him to delay his season by a week. He was back on the field by April 5, struggled through April, then ripped off three pretty elite months, one decent month and then ended the season with a stinker of a September. Though he only hit 17 home runs this year, he hit 37 the year before (and 38 his rookie season), so there should be no doubt that he will return to the high-20’s or better this upcoming season and should chip in another 20-plus stolen bases as well. The Orioles offense should be much improved with the additions of Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward, and also healthier, with Henderson starting the year out healthy, Adley Rutschman bouncing back and hopefully full seasons out of Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser. Like the two above him, the ceiling is incredibly high for Henderson, you just have to hope he hits it.

Lindor is one of only two shortstop over the age of 26 in the top 10, so finding him at number four overall might seem high, but he has earned the right to be here. Though he turned 32 in November, he hasn’t lost a step on the diamond. He has his second 30-30 season in the last three seasons last year (and missed out on three straight season by one stolen base), has hit at least 26 home runs in every (non-Covid) season since 2017, has stolen at least 10 bases in every (non-Covid) season he has been in the majors and has had a wRC+ of 120 or higher in each of the past four seasons. Most would assume that he is losing a bit of speed on the basepaths, but he posted essentially the same sprint speed in 2025 (27.4) as he did in 2019 (27.5). He is an elite talent and a talent rich position, who should have at least one or two more years of putting up high-level numbers before his production starts to wane. Though the Mets lost Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo, they added Marcus Semien and Jorge Polanco, which is not a 1-for-1 equivalency, but they should provide some of the missing stats, plus there should be some growth from Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, (a hopefully full healthy) Francisco Alvarez and the addition of one (Carson Benge) or two (and Jett Williams) top prospects.

Neto followed up his historic 2024 season (becoming the first Angels infielder in the history of the franchise to both hit at least 20 home runs and steal at least 20 bases in the same season), with a second 20-20 season. He hit three more home runs but stole four fewer bases, scoring more runs but driving in fewer base runners. He missed the first few weeks and final few weeks of the season – the former due to rehabbing from off-season surgery on his right shoulder, the latter from a left hand strain, which caused him to fall short of what was looking like a 30-30 season. He doesn’t have the batting average or on-base upside of the four players above him on this list, but has the power and speed to keep up in the other four categories. The Angels will undoubtedly have the worst offense of any of the top five producers at the position, but he should still be able to net 165-plus runs-and-RBI combined, on top of the potential for a 30-30 season. He has the lowest floor of the group, thanks to his on-base problems and poor surrounding performers, but has the talent and skills to put up top five fantasy shortstop numbers for years to come.

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Anthony Kates

I’m a husband, father and fantasy sports fanatic. I’ve been playing some fantasy sport or other since the fall of 1996, thanks to one of my childhood best friends, Brent. I enjoy watching all major sports, reading fantasy novels, watching TV shows and movies, playing video games and writing about fantasy baseball. I started at Sports Ethos in 2023, just writing one article a week and cutting my teeth in fantasy sports writing and I am now a co-lead of the Fantasy Baseball department, co-host of the Fantasy MLB Today podcast and the author of two weekly articles, our dynasty baseball rankings and a handful of random articles a year. I support the Houston Astros, Dallas Mavericks, Tennessee Titans and all things Texas Longhorns.

• AK Dynasty 300 Rankings: Shortstop
• AK Dynasty 300 Rankings: Third Base
• AK Dynasty 300 Rankings: Second Base